Smart thanks to interfaces - A plea for linked and structured information
With technology to the goal
In this article, we want to show the benefits of system communication and HMI (Human Machine Interfaces) - i.e., human-machine interfaces - for Smart-Information and thus outline a solution approach for the technical implementation of Smart-Information, which we will look at in more detail later in this blog series.
Availability and interpretation as key
Reliable information is absolutely necessary for the success of a company
, as Christopher Columbus already knew. Even those who aim for more obvious destinations than the famous navigator cannot do without reliable information. Two things are indispensable for this: the availability and the interpretation of the information. From this point of view, there was already a consensus in the 15th century. In the twenty-first century, people are aware of the importance of Smart-Information.
Unstructured information silos
If we look around at technical documentation today, we see that the desire for the right information at the right time in the right place is often as great as it is unfulfilled. In many cases, this remains hidden in autarkic information silos of individual IT systems. Another problem that doesn't just affect the #techcomm world: 80-90% of all digital information is unstructured, but often contains a large amount of relevant information, as already addressed in various other blogs. So how do you know what information is where, what data it contains, or what use it has?
Use of information
This dilemma is also not new and was already recognized by Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Good information is hard to come by. It is even harder to do anything with them.
All service-engineers who, for example, have to rectify a fault on a production machine in the manufacturing plant of a large plant manufacturer will probably agree with this. Where can the information be found and how can you tell its usefulness for the error at hand?
Find instead of search
Ideally, you don't even have to search for it, but can find it immediately on your smartphone or tablet. In addition to a precise description of the fault, possible solutions and any tools and/or spare parts required are also displayed on the mobile device. How to do it? Very simple: The affected machine registers the error and reports it to a cloud. This not only houses machine data, but also all available product documentation such as maintenance plans or operating instructions. In addition, the cloud contains information for scheduling the work of service personnel. All data relevant to the reported fault is collected in the cloud and service-engineers who are currently available receive the work order sent to their end device via push notification.
Linked information
The scenario described need not be a dream of the future if the company for which our service-engineers work has used data services and interfaces to link the information from the many separate data silos into one large information cloud. Examples of such independent silos may include: Machine controls, ERP systems, content management systems, customer and service portals. Nevertheless, central data storage in a cloud alone is not enough.
Metadata and communication as a prerequisite
A large collection of data in the cloud does not make linked information. The whole thing only becomes smart or intelligent with structured data and metadata as well as system communication. How should information be linked whose context, product affiliation or validity is not known at all? How are service-engineers supposed to receive information appropriate to the fault if the machine control system does not communicate with the service portal, the ERP system does not communicate with the CMS, and the service portal in turn does not communicate with the end device?
Reaching the goal with human-machine interfaces
With the help of interfaces and their associated data services, it is possible to prepare diverse information available in the company in such a way that it can be understood by both humans and machines. Data can be labeled with a structure and various metadata so that data can be exchanged between the various systems and, ideally, machines (or other IT systems) can independently determine the required information and, if necessary, even process it themselves - as in the example of the service-engineers, who are provided with all the information matching the error message as a push message in a fully automated manner.
Communication with system
Smart Information is essentially nothing more than communication. And communication, as undergraduate technical writers learn, is the coordination of actions with others. So how do you do this in a smartway? Niccolò Machiavelli once suggested: If you want others to tell you what they know, you have to tell them what you know. The best way to get information is to give information.
He thus describes the core of linked information: all information carriers must both send and receive information. For such an exchange to work and for Smart-Information become possible in the first place, interfaces between the various information systems are essential.
And further?
So you need a transmitter, a receiver and an interface, and that's it for Smart-Information? Almost. Some further aspects have to be considered in detail in order to make information available at any time, at any place and suitable for any context. This includes topics such as defined exchange formats, handling unstructured data, data storage in the cloud and more. In this blog series, we would like to look at these from various perspectives together with our colleagues and welcome questions and suggestions - possibly for a new blog post!